Energy transition, ecological governance, globalization, and environmental sustainability: Insights from the top ten emitting countries

The global environmental landscape has evolved from regional and localized pollution concerns to a pervasive worldwide issue, posing a formidable challenge for countries worldwide, especially for high-emission countries. Therefore, this study focuses on the role of energy transition, ecological governance, globalization, and economic development in promoting environmental sustainability in the top ten carbon-emitting countries. The findings suggest that energy transition, ecological governance, and globalization collectively contributed to the reduction of carbon emissions in these major emitting nations. Conversely, economic development has had a positive impact on carbon emissions. Moreover, this study employs the method of moments quantile regression to obtain the coefficients in heterogenous quantiles. The results depict that the emission reduction effects of energy transition and globalization is predominantly observed at low to mid-quantile levels, while the decarbonization effect of ecological governance is observed primarily at mid to high-quantile levels. The impact of economic development on carbon emissions exhibits a suppressing effect at the 0.1–0.2 quantile levels, while at the 0.6–0.9 quantile levels, it exacerbates carbon dioxide emissions. Finally, the research findings offer insights into the emission reduction initiatives of the top ten emitting countries, ensuring the sustainable development of the environment.